Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

The allotted time for investigating comes to an end, and those elevator doors slide open at the end of the first-floor corridor; it's a bit of a walk down from the fifth floor, but at least the ride down is swift and smooth. To say nothing of spacious. Your numbers are running low. The podium circle, as always, stands out against the black-walled courtroom where it's encircling that pit in the center; Mettaton and Shirazu have joined the ranks of the deceased, photographs in greyscale watching the proceedings from their podiums draped in black. The Kingmaker, too, is watching all of you; as always, it isn't until everyone has settled at their podium that he speaks, his voice sounding out through the room for all to hear. "Sacrificial has been taken from you. Maybe this time the guilty party is going to actually succeed at Rule Seven - but of course, whether they manage it is still up to the rest of you." Eleven Survivors remain. How many are still standing by the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

[cherryblooded]

[He definitely would not take no for an answer.

And he's glad he didn't.]

What's that in your shirt?

[uro_cyon]

My scarf. Chicago gets cold.

[cherryblooded]

Could you pass it over here, please?

[uro_cyon]

[ After a few seconds he reaches into his shirt and takes the scarf out. It's a solid color grey, all right and he'll hand it over after a glance at Cherryblod.]

[cherryblooded]

[Once it makes its way to him, Cherryblod inspects it closely for any tears in the fabric.]

[uro_cyon]

[There's a tear if you look closely enough, one that looks similar enough to the fabric from Shirazu's mouth.]

[cherryblooded]

That's certainly a tear. -Bruce, you have the fabric scrap, can you pass it over here?

[He's going to compare to see if it's an exact match.]

[amygdalae]

Sure thing.

[...he doesn't like this, but.

He comes over to Cherryblod to pass over to him the fabric scrap for examination.]

[cherryblooded]

[Alright. Is the material a match, and is the shape of the tear a match?]

[uro_cyon]

[ Yes to both.]

[cherryblooded]

It's definitely from this scarf.

[He's not smug, or angry, or anything when he says it, just - tired.

When will they stop doing this?]

...Aiden, would you like to defend yourself?

[uro_cyon]

[ Likewise Aiden's expression is neutral, but Cherry's probably seen the very same look from him when they were playing poker a few weeks ago.]

I'd like to know what you think.

You have one piece of evidence, with everything else still unaccounted for, including how he died. I didn't strangle him with my scarf, if that's what you're asking.

[cherryblooded]

You know, I always wonder why culprits make us go through this every time.

If it's you then it's you, we vote for you, you die and we survive until another day. That's how it works - it doesn't matter if we've solved a hundred percent of the case or twenty-five. Do you just want a last hurrah before you end up in the pit?

[uro_cyon]

This is all one big game, isn't it? I didn't think you played games to lose, especially ones like this.

[garudynamic]

...

[Giving you a look dad.]

[goodforsomething]

I'm with him. This is a waste of time - you ain't even denying it.

[He's not even eager to get to the execution part. He just wants this over with.]

[sleepingkogoro]

You caught him in the arcade and attacked him. Shirazu-kun fought and although you stabbed him and hit him on the back of his head you weren't able to kill him at that point, so you went with a plan B. At that point you either disabled Shirazu-kun and kept him in the sauna - which is how I'd say the scarf got involved - or he ran away and stayed in his room, hours later finding the explosive in the sauna.

Judging by the haze I'd say Shirazu-kun died not long before we found him. You made the mechanism with the radio, leaving it on Shirazu-kun and activating it from not too far away. He died, and you went to get rid of the evidence by hiding it in places you thought it wouldn't be found.

That is how it seems to me everything happened.

[There may be holes, though. Mouri connects the dots with the most obvious conclusion, after all]

[amygdalae]

Why is your scarf underneath all of that?

[...and for that matter why are you even wearing it.]

[uro_cyon]

Habit.

[amygdalae]

[Ooookay.]

...pass that over to Cherryblod, if you would.]

[notjustawriter]

We've been here for well over a month.

[uro_cyon]

[He shrugs.] And I've lived in Chicago for most of my life. [ A month is nothing.]

[captainobnoxious]

Oh, I understand. Why else do you think I keep wearing this heat stroke of a jacket?

[Habit. Just slips it on in the morning without a second thought.]

[uro_cyon]

Glad someone does. [ Look he probably dresses like this in the summer too.]

[isafraid]

Bit of a reflex, then anything else.

[Says the dude in an overcoat.]